


Can't Believe I Could Not See It All This Time (it was always you)

by maybe_we_were



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Clueless Natasha, Dreaming, Dreams and Nightmares, F/M, Friends to Lovers, POV Natasha Romanov, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-18 12:18:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9384707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maybe_we_were/pseuds/maybe_we_were
Summary: Natasha has been having some weird dreams.  After figuring out what they mean, she decides to do something about it.Set somewhere Post AOU and Pre-Civil War.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! I hope your holidays were great! I have this new fic that has some inspiration from "It Was Always You," by Maroon 5. Feel free to check out the song before/while/after you read the story. I feel like something might be missing from the story, but I can't quite figure out what. Either way, I really hope you enjoy!

_The first thing she hears is FRIDAY alerting her of her wake up call._

_She mumbles a quick thanks, not even thinking about getting up.  She’s exhausted and her limbs feel like lead.  The bed is warm and she doesn’t have anywhere she needs to be._

_Just as she’s falling back into a deep sleep, she feels something.  Somehow, she knows it’s Steve, sliding into bed and wrapping an arm around her so that it lays across her ribs.  His knees knock forward, pushing against hers as well, so they are spooning.  Her toes brush against his plaid pajama pants._

_It feels so good, so natural, neither of them saying a word, relaxing into the embrace.  She closes her eyes again and..._

 

Natasha wakes up, not to the pounding of her heart, but just as her alarm goes off.  She is still a bit groggy and her body feels warm all over.  Her body doesn’t want to move, so she lays there and thinks about what happened.

She realizes now that it was all just a dream.  Still, she swears she can feel the warmth of where Steve's arm was around her.  It’s also confusing because she's known Steve a long time.   They worked together for quite a while and he's been her friend since the events of the Winter Soldier and taking down HYDRA.  Her thoughts have drifted to them being more than friends once or twice, before she was distracted (and let down) by Bruce.

She’s been over Bruce for a long time now, and the thought of her and Steve has flitted through her mind again just recently.  The only thing she can come up with is that she’s been spending a lot of time with him lately, both professionally and personally.

What concerns her most, though, is how receptive her dream self was to Steve climbing into her bed.  With him cuddling her.   With getting that close. 

Her thoughts are all over the freaking place. 

She would like to think about it more and get down to the true meaning of it all, but she has a full day ahead of her, including target practice, hand to hand combat with Wanda, and prep for her mission next week.

She goes through the normal motions of her day.  By seven in the evening, she’s freshly showered and finishing up her dinner.  Instead of heading to the living room, she retires to her suite to call Clint and check out her new suspense novel.

After checking in on Clint, Laura, and the kids, she’s comfy in bed, engrossed in her book.  Like with any good book, she doesn’t realize how much time has passed until her eye catches the time on the nightstand, saying that it’s eleven thirty.  Dog-earring her page, she places the book aside and switches off the lamp.

 

_Her boots pound on the cement as she weaves in and out of the parked vehicles along the side of the street.  Suddenly, something blocks her path, pushing against her chest so she falls to the ground.   Her head hits the sidewalk and stars spot her vision.  Adrenaline has her pushing herself into a sitting position, but it’s too late as a metal arm swarms into sight, coming towards her.  She tries to move backward, but the hand quickly grips her neck._

_She. Can’t. Breathe._

_She claws at the hand around her, but she’s losing strength as she loses air.  Her vision blurs again and…_

 

Natasha jolts awake, her heart pounding in her chest.  She focuses on regulating her heart rate, breathing in and out evenly.  Her mind, though, is on the horrible dream she had.

She’s had bad dreams before, but this is the first time it’s been about the Winter Soldier.  If she had to guess why, it would be that he’s still out there somewhere, and they don’t know where or what he’s up to.  At least with Ultron, she know he’s gone for sure.

Her mind flashes back to the dream she had the night before.  She remembers how comfortable and calm she felt with Steve’s arm around her.  Of course, it takes her dream self to make her realize what she’s wanted all along. 

And that would be Steve.

Screw this.

Why think about it when she could actually (maybe) have it?  She’ll worry about the consequences in the morning.  Unless she’s wrong and he doesn’t feel the same, but she’ll worry about that when it happens, if it happens.  She’s _really_ hoping she’s not wrong.

Decision made, she slips out of bed and grabs a blanket, wrapping herself in it before heading out of her suite and down the hallway to Steve’s suite.  The passcode is simple enough, allowing her to enter.  She quiets her footsteps as she moves through the kitchen to Steve’s room.  All of the lights are off, so she makes the assumption that he is asleep or at least lying in bed, relaxing.

She peeks through the bedroom door, barely able to make out his outline on the left side of the bed.  She goes to the right and lifts up the covers, letting her blanket drop to the floor.  The mattress moves slightly under her weight as she settles in close.  Luckily, Steve sleeps on his side, facing her.  She rolls over so that her back is to him and scoots towards his warm body. 

She hears him inhale and exhale deeply.

“Nat.”

His voice is rough from sleep, its low timbre making her feel warm all over. 

He doesn’t say anything else, just acknowledges she is there.  She can’t tell just how awake he is; if he knows she’s there and is fully awake or thinks that _he’s_ dreaming.

Either way, Steve’s arm curls around her waist, pulling her even closer to him, and it feels just like it did in her dream.  Except, this is better because she knows this is real.

She can’t help but think, maybe this was how it was always supposed to be.  Steve has been there through it all, making her laugh and smile and genuinely trusting her.

Why didn’t she see it sooner?

Her thoughts are broken as Steve sighs in her ear, his breath fanning over the side of her face.  It’s a sigh that says, “I’m happy you’re here.”

It’s enough for her, that he’s glad she’s with him.  As she falls asleep, she wonders if Steve always knew she would come to him one day.  Based on the way his fingers trail up and down her arm and the way his lips brush her shoulder, he did. 


End file.
